Druid’s best hope for Standard Hearthstone: Mecha’thun

It’s difficult to look at the state of the Druid class and not release a heavy sigh. During the first week of Rastakhan’s Rumble in early December, Druid appeared to be one of the biggest winners of the expansion.

David “Dog” Caero hit Rank 1 Legend on the NA ladder using the new Undatakah Druid. Taunt Druid and other versions of Control Druid were dominating the competitive ladder and giving Hunter a run for its money. Then, the Emerald Dream was shattered, and Blizzard dropped the nerf bat hard on Druid’s leafy head.

Wild Growth and Nourish both had their mana cost increased, which significantly hurt Druid’s ability to ramp early game. Without the early game mana ramp, Druid was unable to find a place in the meta in the following weeks.

Thankfully for Druid players, however, Mecha’thun Druid has resurfaced and is finding decent success on ranked ladder. Different versions of the deck have a winrate hovering between 46 and 54 percent on HS Replay. While it may not be the most successful deck, if you enjoy playing Druid, it at least has the ability to win.

The deck revolves around the card Mecha’thun, which is a 10-mana cost Mech with 10 Attack and 10 Health. Mecha’thun’s Deathrattle says if you have no cards in your deck, hand, or battlefield, destroy the enemy Hero. As you can imagine, this is a very specific card effect and the entire deck has to be built around it.

For early game, you’ll be running cards like Innervate, Biology Project, Moonfire, and Pounce. These are all low-cost cards that are easy to throw away and don’t cause very many waves in the game. Your primary goal is to draw through your deck as fast as possible until you get a number of specific cards.

One of your most important cards is Gadgetzan Auctioneer. The Auctioneer is a six-mana cost 4/4 minion that allows you to draw a card every time you cast a spell. Using your super low-cost spells in combination with the Auctioneer will allow you to cycle through your deck incredibly fast and get you to your Mecha’thun’s end goal of enemy Hero destruction.

If your opponent decides to leave your Auctioneer uncontested, play as many spells as possible so you get maximum value. One spell you need to make sure you hold on to, however, is Naturalize. This is a one-cost spell that allows you to destroy a minion and lets your opponent to draw two cards. Your deck will only use one Naturalize, and it will be the last card you play.

You will also need to hold on to one Innervate. This zero-cost spell gives you one mana crystal for one turn—this will be the crystal you use to play Naturalize. The big finale for this deck comes when you play Mecha’thun once you only have these three cards left in your hand or deck. You’ll then use Innervate to play Naturalize on your Mecha’thun, triggering its Deathrattle and destroying your opponent.

This is basically a One Turn Kill (OTK) style control deck that can be very fun if you draw the right cards. The frustration with this deck will come when you’ve been bled dry of your resources and health before you’re able to ramp up and use your combo. Not getting proper value out of cards like Gagetzan Auctioneer and Acolyte of Pain can destroy this deck, so you’ll want to make sure you play these cards very carefully.

Ultimately, Druid still isn’t in a very great place as a class, but this deck is at the very least playable in competitive. Hopefully classes like Druid, Mage, Warlock, and Shaman will receive more support in April when the Standard rotation takes place.